17 Palestinians have already been killed while over 1,400 have been injured by the forces of the “Israeli” regime during protests to mark Land Day.

On the 30th of March, 1976, Tel Aviv began uprooting Palestinian communities throughout the Galilee region as part of a plan to build new so-called settlements and official buildings in ancient Palestinian villages. The protests of 1976 were unprecedented for the era and since then, every year on the 30th of March, Palestinians gather to express their rage at the continued injustice they face from the occupier. This year, protests have become especially heated as Land Day is the beginning of a season of protests which leads up to Nakba Day which commemorates the unilateral theft of Palestinian land by Zionist colonists who unilaterally declared themselves a state on 15 May, 1948.

This year, on the 15th of May, the United States intends to open its “Embassy to Israel” in Jerusalem/Al-Quds, on the most sensitive day in the Palestinian national calendar. Today’s Land Day protesters are fully aware of this significance and they are making their feelings known as the US and the regime in Tel Aviv continue to conspire to displace Palestinians from their land, their political destiny and to destroy Palestinian ownership of their ancient and eternal capital.

“Israeli” soldiers continue to fire both tear gas and live rounds on protesters demanding their right to return to their stolen land as military drones circle overhead.

In an Arab world which remains largely divided against itself, the issue of Palestine remains the only thing that could serve as a force of unity. Sadly, many Arab states continue to neglect the Palestinian struggle for justice against the last remaining vestige of colonialism in the otherwise self-governing Arab world.

Earlier today, I spoke with Press-TV about the need to form a new international bloc which will concentrate itself on the aim of achieving Palestinian justice. A would-be ‘Coalition for The Defence of Palestine’ could be modelled on a variety of international blocs including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Eurasian Economic Union, African Union, the once noble principles of the generally failed Arab League or NATO. Such a group comprised of responsible nations committed to the liberation of Palestine, along with individual and collectives of observers from the world of activism, philosophy and scholarship could and should regularly meet to discuss economic measures, including boycotts and embargo of the Tel Aviv regime, until such a point where Palestinian statehood is re-established and the right of Palestinian return is achieved.

Since the UN has consistently failed to aid Palestine against its continued occupation and bombardment at the hands of a colonial entity, a new group is needed to closely monitor, aid and assist the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice, land and freedom.

While the war against Palestine has raged for decades, prior to the late 1940s, Palestine was generally a land of placidity and constructive multiculturalism. Ancient communities of Christians, Muslims, Jews and others lived side by side in a holy place filled with ancient sites that are central to the development of each group’s faith. This was the status quo in Palestine from the end of the aggressive European led crusades up until the 1940s.

Today, Palestine remains divided, occupied and vilified along colonial lines in an age where imperial settlement projects would otherwise be unthinkable. This is why anti-colonial activists of all religious nationalities and political beliefs must stand firmly behind Palestine so that one day the pre-1940s relatively of a multi-faith, harmonious culture can be revitalised between the Red Sea and the River Jordan in the land of Palestine.